Father/Doctor Louis Fair sufffered a fatal heart attack on Wednesday, Oct. 26th. He was a member of the Hermit’s Slate forum and was an early correspondent to Hermitary. Louis was a true controversialist, unorthodox, feisty, but above all passionate about all things “hermit.”
Louis seemed to fit a Chinese model of the hermit (he was married, concerned about his natural setting in the Hawaiian rainforest) but who would dare tell him that? He was irascible on Hermit’s Slate (the forum) and his last communication to Hermitary nearly a year ago was to let me know about a script error preventing posting — or, as he put it simply, “Slate is all screwed up!” But he was clearly well-read, having been a seminary teacher, and we discussed some religious and other topics along the way, but only briefly.
His web site (http://geocities.com/hermit3712) is a lot of fun, starting with his anecdote that he tried to take on some interns but they turned out to be psychos. I knew from the picture of himself and his caption (“I just LOOK grumpy – well …”) that he had a sense of humor.
May he rest in peace.
————————————–
Father Louis is survived by Sister Gabriella, his wife of sixteen years; the State of Hawaii does not recognize survivor benefits for “religious only” marriage. Sister Gabriella will continue to oversee their co-founded “No Kill” Cat Sanctuary of Hermitage-Hawaii.